Before I get to the important stuff, the first thing I want to relate is Toronto Coach Kevin O'Neal's comments on Jeff Van Gundy. I will come as close as I can. When asked if had any special significance winning against his good firend and former boss, O'Neal sais " Absolutely not. If it were up to me, we'd never coach against each other, first because I don't want to have to see him lose, and second because he's just a tough little sh*t to coach against, man. He makes all the right calls, all the right adjustments...he's just tough. This was a good win for us, a tough win for them, but Jeff did all the right things, he made excellent adjustments at half time, had us scrambling to cover his calls...he got them to come back and lead the game simply by excecuting the right plays, and until ( Bosh) hits the three, he had them with the win. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, there's not a better coach, at any level, than Jeff." Now the important stuff; Jeff Van Gundy was facing a phalanx of reporters, and drinking a soft drink while answering these, but I've got it down pretty straight, and can go over the tape if need be. First of all he said that the loss was due entriely not playing intelligently, particularly late in the game. He said it was his responsibility to get the team to play intelligent, and he had failed in that regard. He went on to say that our intelligence was most evident in our shot selection, but was also clear in fouling, positioning for rebounds, etc. He also said intelligence lapses late in games has been a problem for this team for 4 years; ' We haven;t won close games for four years, and it all comes down to not playing intelligent late in games." He reiterated that this was his failure, for not getting the team to play with more intelligence,and when it was noted that he hadn't been the coach for the previous 4 years, so the comment had to be about the players who had been in Houston for 4 years, he repeated that it had to start with him, and changed the subject. Probably the most telling comment JVG made, though, was regarding Vince Carter and Chris Bosh. When asked about limiting Carter's scoring, he said that 'we ran 2 or more guys at him all night. It caused him problems for a while, but he adjusted. If you look at all of their big plays, they came off Carter passes. Like on Bosh's three...we ran 2 guys at him, and he made the intelligent play. That's what intelligent stars do, they trust their teammates.' Food for thought and discussion from the horse's mouth. Take it however you want.
Ouch. I wonder who that's directed too? Okay, I'm glad JVG saw the problem and didn't actually design those plays to have Steve and Cuttino dribble like crazy. It was brutal out there, just like the good old days.
I like those comments, taking responsibility for his team but nobody asked him about not getting Yao the ball at all in two overtimes? Geez...
I like Van Gundy. He doesn't kiss the players' a$$es. He tells it like it is, and now, it's up to the players to respond.
You can only watch so many rockets games until you concede that our guards are idiots. How many times is steve gonna lazily let his defender steal an inbound pass? When they have a shot, they force a pass. When they're heavily guarded they force a shot. I can't believe Steve just stood there letting the clock wind down before forcing a 35 footer to win the game.
Well. I would say he choked coz he was heavily guarded. You will lose your rhym if you are doubled all the way.
We have no stars on our team, just wannabees, so he wasn't referring to any actual stars on our team.
I guess steve will say this after the game: it's just a loss because we did not hit the shots we normally do. We got all shots we want we just didn't make them.
After 4 years of this, if anyone here is still waiting for these players to "gain" some intellegence in their playing they are in for a long wait...
I agree with JVG. The team did not play smart at all tonight. Francis was selfish, and he wasn't even selfish on a good shooting night for him. Cat was off, and Jimmy Jackson, for some reason wasn't playing the tough defense we've been used to from him. Yao was turning the ball over especially during the crunch time, and our guys just didn't play smart. I think Kelvin Cato was the most consistent player on the team today, and had we won he should have been MVP of the game.
Why is it when I say francis is dumb and mobley should be traded,the gauntlet is headed my way,yet when Jvg says it indirectly then he is smart? Makes sense to me. I get comments like "dont you have anything nice to say?" directed at me and yet when Jvg is putting down the players all you love it? Again,that makes perfect sense.
No, you're never alone. There are tons of people who think the Two Stoogies are over-rated from day one. As always said: it's not the win or loss, it's the way they played. If their idiotic skills can get us somewhere, I got a bridge I could sell you.
Steve aint Mensa material but I'm not entirely convinced he's outright dumb. Another poster mentioned in the Main thread that he simply has a Napolean complex. I think that's a good description. If a great play is gonna be made Steve thinks that it's either gonna come off of Steve's shot or Steve's pass or it aint gonna happen at all. So basically until he grows up this team aint going nowhere. And after 4 seasons of this BS already, I don't think Rox fans can really wait any longer for him to Get It. So at this point I wouldn't mind seeing him traded.
Ummm....where did JVG say that Steve was stupid, let alone that we should trade Mobley? I can see how you'd infer the former, or at least that Steve played stupid, which isn't the same thing, but not the latter.
